Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with polymorphic expression. B cells have an essential contribution in immune system activation via the production of different cytokines and functioning as potent antigen-presenting cells. Therefore, a drug that particularly targets B cells may represent an ideal therapeutic approach for SLE. Rituximab (RTX), an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody causing transient B-cell depletion, has been used to manage SLE. This study aims to assess Rituximab effects on lupus nephritis (LN) patients when added to conventional immunosuppressants. Twenty four patients, 15-32 years old, with class III/IV/V LN were involved in this study. All were on steroids before lupus nephritis occurrence. They were given rituximab induction therapy and mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) maintenance therapy. RTX was indicated for refractory and relapsing SLE. Several investigations done before and after RTX treatment and in the last follow up (done one year after starting Rituximab). Those included protein in urine, serum creatinine, double stranded DNA, C3, C4, and Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR). Proteinuria decreased significantly after RTX treatment and in the last measurement (P=0.01 and P=0.001, respectively). Serum creatinine significantly decreased only in the last measurement (P=0.02). Double stranded DNA decreased remarkably after treatment (P=0.01) with a further decrease in the last measurement (P=0.006). C3 and C4 increased after treatment but the increase was significant only for C3 (P=0.002) and this increase continues till the last measurement (P=0.0006). Active urine sediments found in fifteen patients and disappeared after RTX treatment. Rituximab can be promising in treating lupus nephritis when used along with traditional immunosuppressants. It can reduce disease activity and improve renal function in such patients.
A series of experiments were conducted for the first time in Iraq to evaluate the efficiency of five plant leaves extracts (Ibicella lutea, Nerium oleander, Clerodendron inerme, Allium cepa and Eucalyptus spp.) in treating the common carp (Cyprinus carpio) infected with monogenetic trematodes of genera Dactylogyrus. Five different concentrations of such extracts were used to bathe fishes for 5,10,15,20 and 25 minutes. A concentration of 15% A. cepa for 25 minutes of bath exposure was affective in trematode eradication. Extracts of both Eucalyptus and N. oleander at a concentration of 10% each were also affective for ten minutes exposure. Extracts of C. inerme had no any effect on such parasites. On the otherhand, extracts of 1. hitea caused
... Show MoreObjective: The descriptive study was used to evaluate nursing staff performance in cardiac care units at teaching
and non teaching hospitals in kirkuk city: A comparative study.
Methodology: A descriptive study was used to evaluate nursing staff performance in cardiac care units. The study
was conducted from December 29th
, 2013 up to the 27th of Apr. 2014. A non-probability (purposive) sample of
(44) nurses who work in cardiac care unit at Azady teaching Hospital and Kirkuk general Hospital was evaluated by
a questionnaire which consisted of two parts; the first part is concerned with the demographic characteristics of
the nurses and the second part concerned Observation check list for evaluation nursing staff Perfo
A new laboratory study conducted on stepped spillways in order to investigate their efficiency of dissipating flow energy. All previous study on stepped spillway indicated that the flow energy dissipation decreased as increasing in discharge. Increasing in the step numbers and the spillway slope led to energy dissipation decrease. In this study, an experimental attempt to increase energy dissipation at variable discharges was performed on stepped spillway and that leads to decreasing the cost of initiating the stilling basin or may be ignoring it. Five spillways were constructed from concrete and tested to investigate and compare among them. Three were roughed by gravel with different size for each one, one of them was s
... Show MorePoliteness strategies are of significant importance to maintain the face of the addressee. Senders of formal congratulatory letters seek to create a positive image in the minds of their addresses by performing particular illocutionary acts and face-saving acts (FSAs) in the form of written texts. To the best knowledge of the researcher, this topic received little attention from linguistic researchers, especially on the pragma-stylistic level. The importance of this study arises from the fact that congratulatory formal letters are an effective tool in the successful performance of foreign relations and thus deserve investigation. The current study investigates the pragmastylistic aspects of illocutionary acts and FSA Politeness Stra
... Show MorePharmaceutical companies assign a budget for activities and promotions that aim to change the prescription habits of the physicians to choose the most suitable medications for their patients, which will eventually grow their sales. The study's objectives were to explore physicians' and medical representatives' perspectives on the criteria of impactful professional PP and the factors influencing the interaction between physicians and medical representatives. Qualitative in-depth interviews with flexible probing techniques were carried out in 2023. A semi-structured, open-ended interview questionnaire was used to interview physicians and medical representatives (MRs) from different private clinics in several governorates in Iraq. Ten physicia
... Show MoreThe aim of this paper is to introduce the concept of N and Nβ -closed sets in terms of neutrosophic topological spaces. Some of its properties are also discussed.
Every body has a size and mass that distinguishes it from others and makes it different from others. Some of these bodies are huge and large in size, and some are small and light in weight. Among these masses and bodies are some that are dealt with by their size and weight, each according to its quantity, weight, and cheapness. This is why they created quantities by which these weights and quantities could be estimated, so they used measures and weights for that. Objectives: The research aims to know some measures and weights, such as the wife’s maintenance, the amount of zakat, etc.I found it to be a widely spread topic, and widely used in the folds of jurisprudence. During my reading of jurisprudence books, I found jurists using many qu
... Show MoreDBN Rashid, Al- Utroha Journal, 2018
The research addressed an analytical field investigation of the locality of meander, the factors responsible of the locality of the meander at certain points of the stream other than others, and the role sequence of these factors in the formation process.
The research revealed that the location of forming the meander was associated closely with the scale structural composition of the bank materials from which the first stage of forming the curved stream, for the inhomogeneous or non-identical opposite banks in their scale structural composition saw an activity of differential corrosion, while the homogeneous and identical opposite banks in their scale structural composition saw an identical corrosion activity in its intensity at both
The present paper respects 'inversion' as a habit of arranging the language of modern English and Arabic poetry . Inversion is a significant phenomenon generally in modern literature and particularly in poetry that it treats poetic text as it is a violator to the ordinary text. The paper displays the common patterns and functions of inversion which are spotted in modern English and Arabic poetry in order to show aspects of similarities and differences in both languages. It concludes that inversion is most commonly used in English and Arabic poetry in which it may both satisfy the demands of sound correspondence and emphasis. English and Arabic poetic languages vary in extant to their manipulation of inverted styles as they show changeable f
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